Oregon's once-booming indoor tanning industry has lost hundreds of salons in recent years amid higher taxes and closer scrutiny.

Tanning businesses must register each tanning bed they operate with the state, and the state's numbers show a steady decline following the initiation of a 10 percent "tan tax" that was part of the Affordable Care Act.

John Overstreet, executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association, described the tan tax as "a real source of irritation" that caused about 20 percent of tanning businesses to close nationally.

The number of indoor tanning storefronts in Oregon dropped by 17.4 percent from 2010 to 2012, from 643 to 531.

Three hundred and twenty-two salons closed during the same period, as compared to 199 new openings.

The industry is also facing tighter laws as more research is published about the link between tanning beds and skin cancer.

In Oregon, all tanning employees must earn training certificates and set up specific treatments for customers based on skin types. The state issued 192 citations in 2012 for violations in those two categories.

A new law would tighten state law further by prohibiting salons from serving minors under 18 years old unless they present a note from their doctors recommending indoor tanning.

Current law already prohibits salons from offering indoor tanning to children under 18 without parental consent.